Mark Wenz
How do we know that God is with us? According to Paramhansa Yogananda, one of the best known and most beloved of all Indian spiritual teachers who came to the West, there are seven signs that signal divine connection:
• You feel a deep inner peace, even when life is chaotic. If a deep inner calmness resides within you, even when outside circumstances invite despair, then God lives inside you. Perhaps you’ll feel this after prayer, when sitting in nature, or when you stop trying to control everything and surrender to what is. According to Yogananda, “The more you tune into God, the more this peace becomes your natural state.”
• You are drawn to spiritual truth. Money, status, and entertainment begin to feel empty. Your soul hungers for more. You want answers that no news channel or social media outlet can give you. If you feel this way, Yogananda would say you’re waking up to an eternal truth that doesn’t change with public opinion. The desire for this truth comes from the soul remembering its home.
• You start receiving powerful intuition. Have you ever had a strong inner feeling that wasn’t corroborated by logic or evidence but later turned out to be absolutely right? According to Yogananda, “Intuition is the voice of the soul and one of the most powerful signs that God is with you.” When you start walking the spiritual path, you begin noticing this subtle inner guidance.
• You’re protected in ways you can’t explain. When God is with you, divine protection becomes an invisible force that surrounds you. Maybe you experience a sudden change of plans that later saves you from danger or a relationship breakup causing much sorrow at the time but which later you recognize as the best outcome for your spiritual advancement. These aren’t coincidences or lucky breaks but are signs of divine grace guiding you along your path of spiritual awakening.
• You begin to lose interest in ego and judgment. You no longer feel the need to prove yourself right or to compete with others. When you lose interest in ego and judgment, you start seeing others through the eyes of compassion, no matter who they are or what they believe. You realize everyone is on their own journey, and it isn’t your job to judge them.
• You encounter souls that awaken you. Sometimes God doesn’t speak through voices or visions but through people. You meet someone and feel a special connection. They may say something that hits your soul like lightning. These “soul messengers” appear in your life when you are ready to grow, and once you meet them, you are transformed.
• You feel an unshakeable love and joy within you. This kind of love and joy are divine. This joy and love appear when your soul begins to merge with the infinite, and it’s one of the clearest signs that God lives within you.
May you feel the presence of God within you always!